How should male cheerleaders appear?. Recent guidelines have place some unreasonable conditions on appearance and performance. Compete Network has a tidy little article about this.
Some sports are really about brute physical power mixed with constant threat of bodily injury which require rigid rules and whole lot of extra padding to prevent injury.
Sports like cheer require high levels of stamina and accuity making male cheerleaders as much of an athlete as your average college age nfl draftee. Most male cheerleaders are in better physical shape than their ball tossing counterparts.
A little off track rant never hurts right?
Cheer also involves a whole lot of showmanship. Lots of glitter and glam. An experience not unlike a live Cher perfomance.
Ok so maybe not quite Cher. No one can live up to that! My point is that continuing to enforce rediculous guidelines such as "no shimmy or shake" and minimizing "theatrics" is really code for "you need to man up."
A phrase which continues to annoy me as it forces upon us what one person thinks a man should be. Instead of celebrating incredible athletes they are penalized for being themselves and that is unacceptable.
Shimmy on boys!
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